[MarkP80]

Hi all,

Bit of an open ended question I know, but I have to start somewhere with this one

OK, my cousin has very recently bought a plot of land on which she and her husband plan to build a five bed detached house. I visited her at the weekend and asked if she had thought about things like lighting control, music networking etc, and she said yes - she had thought she would ask me to tell her what she needed

So I suppose first thing, can anyone suggest any good reading material for me/her to give us an idea of what is possible?

I would expect she will want to consider the following -
1) Themed lighting control through the house
2) Music distribution from a central server that you can easily add new music to
3) Sky tv distribution - different channels in different rooms
4) Security system

Would anyone like to suggest different systems to do the above?
Important point is that the householders will NOT want to know how this system works, they will simply want it to be easy to use.

Cost/budget? Well, that is clearly going to depend on how much integration there is of the systems I suggested above. But this isn't a cost-no-object project.

It's clearly quite a complex project, but it needs to be sorted now, so it can be integrated into the house plans at an early stage. I expect the system design is going to be by a professional outfit, but I'd like us to have an idea of what we are talking about before we go down that route. Hence I'd like to do a bit of research on the systems available.

Then at some point we'll need to start talking to installers/designers, so anyone suggest anyone in the Swansea area?

Many thanks,
Mark

[dj-dulux]

Mark, the requirements your cousin has are all very doable and as you are building the house now is the time to get it cabled. For music and TV(Sky etc) distribution the cable requirement is fairly standard in the CI industry, although you need to ensure that its not a propriety system which limits the choice of equipment, ask your CI about this.

Lighting is the one which you should install from day one; it’s not too expensive if installed when you build. But fairly difficult to retro fit unless you use Rako. I would budget something like £6000 to £10000 for complete home lighting set up. Something like 36 3A dimmers, a few higher rated dimmers and all the wall furniture and programmed.

Music distribution is one of those things which could cost £500 or £50000. This is one area where you really need to discuss your requirements with an installer. What control method do you want, sources, functionality etc. This system could also integrate into the lighting. Get this right and your cousin with thank you and use it everyday. Get it even slightly wrong and it can become a pain and simply not used. For something easy to add music to you are probably going to be looking at a CD based server, simply put the CD in and off it goes, no PC needed. Examples from Naim, ReQuest and Imerge are all worth looking at.

TV, this depends on what you really need to achieve. All the sources in a central location, or are you willing to have local Sky boxes? Do you require surround sound in main locations? This will then set if you need a matrix switch, maybe a Smart-e one?

I very strongly suggest that you give some local installers a call; this will set the type of system your cousin is after. If you only have 3 zones and a couple of TVs this could be done from an AV amp with a nice bit of control software running on a Pronto. If you want 8 music zones and 5 video zones then obviously you start having to look at more comprehensive systems.

If you are in Swansea then I’d give www.dragon-av.com a go, ask for Tom.

Dupe…

[MarkP80]

Dupe,

Many thanks for your comments, much appreciated.
I'll have a further chat with her.

Thanks,
MarkP